The
Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus Primigenius) lived from the Pleistocene to the early
Holocene epoch.These mammoths roamed
Europe, North America and Northern Asia. There
were various types of mammoth species ranging in size from about 9 feet tall to
over 15 feet tall.They weighed up to 3
to 5 tons and had similar teeth structure like the modern day elephant of
today.These herbivores (plant-eaters)
mammals had long, dense, dark black hair and under fur, long curved tusks, a
fatty hump, a long trunk, and large ears.The woolly mammoths molted their dark black hair in the summer much like
the musk oxen.Underneath the dense dark
black hair of the mammoth, lain a dark-grey skin and an insulating fat layer,
which helped them adapt to the cold climate.Their layer of fat was three-inches thick and they possessed an
additional fat reserve stored in the hump above the shoulders.Other characteristics of the mammoth, where
their long curved tusks, which ranged in size and structure in different
species.The longest tusks were known to
grow over 17 feet long.Experts noticed
that underneath the tusk of the mammoth it often showed wear.This suggests that mammoths used the tusks
for digging up vegetation and breaking thru the hard ice.It also used its massive tusks for mating
rituals.Along with their massive tusks,
came their massive teeth structure.Enamel plates filled the mammoth’s cheek, which anchored in the
jaw.The enamel ridges stood out and
were excellent grinding mills for the relatively tough, dry grasses on which
these animals fed.During their complete
lifetime, six molar-like teeth developed in each side of each jaw.Of the twenty-four teeth, six sets of teeth
were never in use at the same time because there was not enough space in the
mouth.Teeth grew forward from the back
jaw replacing smaller teeth that wore and eventually dropped out.Mammoths fed on such grasses as mosses,
sedges, herbaceous pollens and spores and fragments of willow and bilberry.
We have
learned much from fossils regarding the evolution of the woolly mammoth. The
evolution of the woolly mammoth has placed experts to figure out how many
species came to evolve.Until recently,
it was thought that different species of mammoth had never walked the planet at
the same time.However, new discoveries
of fossils suggest that differentspecies
of mammoth co-existed at two critical stages in their evolution.Three species of mammoth arealso known to have been present in Europe and
Siberia.The most primitive mammoth was the ancestral or early mammoth, which
lived in Europe between about 2.5 million and
700,000 years ago.This was followed by
the steppe mammoth, which lived until about 200,000 years ago, then the woolly
mammoth, which finally died out about 3,500 years ago.In 1993, experts came to the startling
discovery that dwarf woolly mammoths lived on Wrangel
Island, dating between 7,000 and 3,700 years ago.While the pyramids and Stonehenge were being
built in Egypt and England, dwarf mammoths roamed the relic mammoth
steppe on this small island off the coast of northeastern Siberia.With more discoveries of mammoth fossils come
together the pieces of puzzles, allowing scientists to understand the evolution
of when and how these extraordinary creatures once roamed the earth.
In 1993, experts came to the startling discovery that dwarf
woolly mammoths lived on Wrangel Island,
dating between 7,000 and 3,700 years ago.While the pyramids and Stonehenge were being built in Egypt and England,
dwarf mammoths roamed the relic mammoth steppe on this small island off the
coast of northeastern Siberia.From the research of fossils and frozen
carcasses, we have learned much about the woolly mammoth.There are a number of sites through out the
world, which contain stacks of mammoth bones and experts tell the story of how
they perished.In Hot Springs, South Dakota,
paleontologists are excavating a site where woolly mammoths came to drink
water. The thirsty creatures would come to drink water and then find themselves
trapped at the bottom of a watery grave.Experts have found other fossils as well in the sunken pit, which
clearly illustrates that other creatures fell to the same fate as the woolly
mammoth. Today this site is a museum, where people are free to experience the
incredible fossils of these mammals.
From the frozen carcasses of woolly mammoths,
experts hope that they can extract a pristine strand of DNA to impregnate a
female elephant and then raise the offspring in a safari park in the Siberia.A number
of experts disagree that this it can be done; however, two expeditions in Siberia are in searching for mammoth remains.Both teams hope to find and extract cells
from the preserved remains of a mammoth.One of the teams involves members of Japanese genetic scientists, which
believe that by resurrecting a woolly mammoth they can learn more about these
amazing mammals and even find out why they became extinct.
The
discovery of many frozen carcasses in Siberia
has greatly increased due to global warming.A rise in the earth’s temperature is causing the Siberian permafrost to
melt. This is causing mammoth specimens to surface from the frozen tombs as a
result.Experts believe that there are
at least 10,000 million mammoths buried in the Siberia.Paleontologists study these mammals and try
to understand why they suddenly became extinct.Experts suspect that sudden changes in the environment led to their
extinction.Others propose that the
mammoths adapted well to all types of environment and that it was man that
caused their disappearance.In addition
to the frozen carcasses of woolly mammoths, a large amount of ivory has been
found in Siberia and, a great variety of
Paleolithic structures, tools, and carvings from mammoth bones and tusks.Huts found like this one clearly illustrate
that man played a roll in the extinction of these mammals.More than 70 huts constructed of the tusks of
woolly mammoths were found across the Russian planes.Whether by man or by sudden changes in the
environment, the mammoths could not compete with the cause of their
destruction.
We have
learned much from fossils regarding the evolution of the woolly mammoth. The
evolution of the woolly mammoth has placed experts to figure out how many
species came to evolve. Until recently,
it was thought that different species of mammoth had never walked the planet at
the same time. However, new discoveries
of fossils suggest that different species
of mammoth co-existed at two critical stages in their evolution. Three species of mammoth are also known to have been present in Europe and
In 1993, experts came to the startling discovery that dwarf
woolly mammoths lived on 
The
discovery of many frozen carcasses in